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2024 UFFL week 20 Results and Divisional playoffs Preview!!
2 weeks ago
General
It all comes to this, the final week, the final day, on the road to Furbowl 10! Here there results for the final week of the season!
Well, the New Orleans Corsairs, are mortal afterall, Either Mardi Gras hangover hit too hard or the players already had their mind over to the playoffs, In the meantime the Las Vegas Bandits weren't about to let themselves be disrespected. In their final home game of the year, the Bandits wanted to finish on a high note as they managed to finish the year strong after a season full of ups and downs. The QB for the Bandits, Sylvester Stapler, whom this year might have been not one of his best, shown today he still to be considered in the top tier of QBs in the league with a great outing (19/28, 277 yards, 1 TD) other than that, the run game really took a day off (55 yards total rushing for BOTH teams) and both teams were rather undisciplined (18 combined penalties for 163 total yards lost). Regardless, Vegas finishes strong with a 10-8 record while New Orleans ends with 11-7 record and a division title, franchises firsts, but they better sober up come playoff time. Vegas wins this one 35-7.
In Easton, Montreal had a lot to gain while the Bald Eagles had nothing to lose. Having scored an upset last week, the Bald Eagles wanted to finish this year with optimism as The Royal needed to win in order to try to get home field advantage from winning their division. At first, it seemed like it was all Montreal. Vito Ligustica had one of his best games on the ground since week 3 ( 148 yards, 1 TD ) and The Royal was leading 17-0 at the start of the second quarter. But then everything seems to….stall for Montreal. Bald Eagles QB Michelle Housley had one of the best game of her career ( 274 yards passing, 2 TDs) and even thrown her longest TD, a 74 yards bomb to Wide Receiver Lyra Murphy, then in the Third, Veteran and one of the face of the franchise, Delph Adler would score again to complete the comeback, leading 21-20. Try as they might, Montreal could not generate anything in the second half, as Virginia Pratt would kick a FG in the last quarter to put it out of reach. A stunned Royal, now had to wait on the New York game to see if they clinched their division, while the Bald Eagles might end their season 6-12, but got lots of encouraging performances to build on for the summer. Easton wins this one 24-20.
In Miami, the stakes could not be as clearer for the Downriver Waves. If Lillian Newman ever wanted to have a shot to return to the playoffs, they had to win this game with gusto and hope for a Blues loss to sorta shake things up. For the Miami faithful, they had one more shot to perhaps play the spoilers at least and finish this season, already looking at getting the offseason work started already. You wonder where the rushing went from the NOC/LBV game? Well, here it was. 6 combined rushing TDs and 326 total rushing yards from both teams. All kidding aside, while it may not look like it, Miami played a great game. Wil Hudson continued to improve (278 yards, 1 TD) they had a third down conversion of 9/17, and Roy Viridi-Aqua played well as usual (98 yards receiving, 1 TD). They would have probably been winning this game…if only Lillian Newman hadn't gone MVP mode one. More. Time. 218 passing yards, 2 TDs. 171 rushing yards, 3 rushing TDs. Newman took the team on her back once more as she did all she could. Now the Waves had to wait and look over in California. Downriver wins this one 42-25.
Moving things over to Chicago. It’s safe to say it wasn’t really what the Outlaws were expecting. The season went to hell in a hand basket and ever since they got passed over by the Corsairs, nothing went right. Today, Chicago looked…gassed. Seems no one was eager to come to play, other than Max Stahl, who had 133 receiving yards, a career high. At least he tried. The game score was 7-6 into the fourth quarter, which made it a rather dull game that Nashville would happily take as they had their ticket punched for the playoffs. As Chicago had their first losing record since 2014, what is going to happen in the summer for them? Nashville wins this one 21-7.
In Tallahassee, The North Florida Renegades had their tickets punched to defend their title, along with the division title regardless of Baltimore results (They swept them in season) but they had an important test against the Colorado Crushers. In a possible Conference final match up, both teams gave them their all. North Florida QB Caryn Becker was only 7 passing yards off her career high (341 passing yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) but she completed a career high in completions. But what was really unusual for this game is how the Crushers really took over the game with a QB committee strategy, as all 3 suited Crushers QBs had completions in this game, only missing 5 passes total. Aspen Redfield would throw for 4 TDs, as Colorado would end up getting on top, putting North Florida on notice. Colorado wins this one 38-28.
In Baltimore, it was a playoff frenzy for Baltimore, as they were more ready than ever to get to the post season. How so, well it seems it will not only be California that would not score a single point in a game. Much to the Grand Rapids Dragons’s dismay. Having less than 200 yards in total offense in this game, at the very least it's now clear as day on what the Dragons need to work on in the offseason: Offense. Jillian St-Claire finish her season strong with a great day on the field (266 yards, 3 TDs) and are now ready to get playoffs going. Baltimore wins this one 34-0.
Now on to the very important games. In California, the Demons faced off against the Austin Blues, who were trying to solidify their playoff spot. Win and they are in. It all comes down to the young rookie QB Ica Laanemaa to bring this home for Austin. Can they do it? The Demons weren’t about to let them go on that easy, as the game was really close throughout. For the First half of the game, California seemed to have control on this game, but slowly but surely, once more, Ica proved that it wasn’t luck, as Austin would more of less take full control from the middle of the game, as Laanemaa once again shown up (21/24, 185 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) and running back Carrice Kenton helps on field position with 97 yards rushing. California would score late but the damage was done. Austin completes the mid season turnaround as they head to the Playoff while unfortunately, it is the end of the line for the Downriver Waves. Is this it for Newman? Austin wins this one 31-20.
Finally, against all odds, this would happen to be THE game of the week. New York, due to the loss of the Royal, could clinch their division with a win. Richmond, amidst everything, had the first positive season ever since they relocated to their new home and was looking to finish with perhaps an upset of their own. Right off the bat, Richmond was looking like they were ready to do so. In the second quarter, Richmond led the Defiant 28-14, with a 31 yards pick six from Alice Lacoste (first in her career). But then Richmond started perhaps to get a little too confident, out comes the penalties. 14 penalties for 118 yards lost, it didn't take much for the Defiant to slowly climb back up. And you know what that means….time for Clutch Emi. True to herself, she would bring back the Defiant in the game (327 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT) until they led in the fourth, thanks to a couple of Field goals. There still was some hope for Richmond as they were in the red zone at the end. But with a turnover on downs, it wasn’t meant to be. The Idol has done it again. Defiant comeback. Division clinched! New York wins this one 34-28.
Players of the Week
Offense: Lillian Newman (QB – DWN): 218 passing yards, 2 passing TDs and an interception, plus 171 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns
Defense: Olga Mikhailov (DE – NSH): 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 QB hurries and a forced fumble
Special Teams: Rubin Hildebrand (P – NOC): 8 punts for 352 total yards, with 5 inside the 20
And now...Here the preview of the 2024 UFFL playoffs divisional games!
(4) Nashville Tuts (12-6) @ (1) New York Defiant (13-5)
Season Series: New York won both games this season: 52-23 in New York in Week 10, and 27-10 in Nashville in Week 13.
The disappointment of dropping a close game to the division-rival Bald Eagles in Week 19 was short lived for New York, as they watched Easton do the same thing to the Royal in Week 20 to turn the tables for the third time in as many weeks. The thrilling United East division race ends in the Defiant bringing the title back to New York for the first time since 2019 (when they were the Titans), and avoiding having to travel to the loud and raucous crowd that New Orleans will have in the Big Easy. Emi Tachibana is expected to be ready for this divisional tilt despite suffering a small facial injury in last week's matchup against Richmond, and they're gonna need her to keep doing what she's been doing all season; the Defiant have the league's top offense in yards gained, averaging 394 yards per game, and is top 4 in points scored, rushing yards and passing yards. Ageless wonder Justice Matari put up their second straight season racking up over 1500 yards receiving and at least 18 touchdowns, and the emergence of second-year running back Timothy Dougherty has been a story scarcely covered by journalists and media, quietly running for over 1100 yards and 7 touchdowns in a quality supporting backfield to Tachibana. As the team with the league's best record, it's tricky to pinpoint an achilles heel, but the Defiant's run defense in particular hasn't been doing them any favours. Java Jenkins, Royce Jackson, and the Royal's duo of Ligustica and Zuro have ran all over the Defiant this past month. Despite the regular season success, they've been ousted in rather lopsided losses in the divisional round in both 2022 and 2023, so the pressure is starting to mount this time around to at least win a playoff game. Fail to do that, and there might be more questions than answers in New York this offseason.
The Tuts played their starters in Chicago last week, likely to rinse out the stench of that dismantling in New Orleans a week earlier, to earn a very respectable 12-6 record - best in franchise history. They're in the postseason dance for the second time in their history - and first since 2019. Roman Oliviera has had his best season in his young career, throwing for 26 touchdowns and just 7 picks, and threw for almost 3000 yards despite missing four games. Charmaine Baldrick led the way in receiving yards with over 1300, and Dexter Mullen was their red-zone threat with 14 touchdown grabs. Bubba Deezen and Dallas Larkin were one of the most effective and balanced running duos in the league this year, both of them rushing for over 900 yards each, with 13 touchdowns between them. This is an offense that's built to win games no matter the situation. As for the defense... there's a lot to be desired, despite having DPOY finalist Sandra Wheeler. A lot of Nashville's wins were shootouts, and as a result, despite being six games over .500, the Tuts have allowed more points than they've scored. They've also lost four of their last seven after starting the season 9-2 to gradually fall out of a division race they would only lose out to by one game. If the Tuts want to pull off the upset in New York, they've got to find a way to keep up with the Defiant's quick tempo, and force Tachibana to make quick decisions and throw errant passes. They allow just under 270 passing yards per game this season - by far the lowest in this playoff field - and Tachibana throws an average of over 250 a game. This will not be a low-scoring game, which is great for the fans, but might not be great for the coaches.
(3) Montreal Royal (13-5) @ (2) New Orleans Corsairs (11-7)
Season Series: Montreal won both games this season: 34-16 in New Orleans in Week 1, and 37-24 in Montreal in Week 6.
The Royal had chances to keep their streak of division titles going strong, both in Week 18 against New York, and last week in Easton. They lost both, and despite winning 13 games - tied for the best record in the league - they might not play another home game again this season. Despite that, the Royal's strength is the same as it has been in recent memory: defense, defense and more defense. Only allowing a touch more than 16 points a game and holding opponents to less than 7 points four times this season (including two shutouts), they know how to put the stranglehold on opposing offenses, and that's translated into a ton of playoff success for the Royal in the past half-decade. This time around, they have the two-headed monster in Vito Ligustica and Yash Zuro, who ran for a combined 2386 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. As a result, they have the conference's best rushing attack for an offense that averages almost 29 points per game, second-best in the league. Last year, they were shut down in a low-scoring thriller by a brilliant Bandits defense, a Bandits defense they could have been facing in a divisional round rematch...
...if not for the rookie heroics of Theodore Dupre and that Corsairs offense, who average over 30 points per game; the only team to beat Montreal in that category. Just edging out the Bandits and Outlaws, they're without question the story of the season; a rookie quarterback leading their franchise to the first playoff berth and division title in franchise history. It's a distant memory now, but the Corsairs were at 2-6 after eight weeks, and had a deal in place to trade Aleksy Wisnieski to the Tropics had they lost that game to the Bandits in Week 9. Down 13 points after three quarters, they pulled out a 4th-quarter comeback of the ages and never looked back, rattling off nine straight wins to quash the rumours of selling their biggest assets at the trade deadline, including putting the hammer down on the Outlaws, Tuts and Renegades. Though, the time for celebration is over, and as Blues' quarterback Ica Laanemaa said in their press conference a few days earlier, to be the best you gotta beat the best. They're 0-2 against the Royal AND Defiant this season, however, all four of those games were within that 2-6 stretch to start the year. This is a dangerous team with weapons aplenty, with Dupre leading the way, Leone Lopez rushing for over 1300 yards, and a receiving three-headed monster in Wisnieski, Stephen Harris, and Robert Ruiz. This is a game that will ultimately come down to experienced talent versus raw, full-of-potential talent as the Corsairs have never been here before - facing a team that's been here almost every year throughout their existence. Regardless of the outcome, this season has smashed all expectations for the Corsairs, and heads should be held high no matter what happens throughout the next four weeks.
(4) Austin Blues (10-8) @ (1) North Florida Renegades (11-7)
Season Series: North Florida won both games this season: 17-13 in Austin in Week 3, and 37-9 in North Florida in Week 7.
Ica Laanemaa was subbed in for Kai Koa after sitting at 4-7 through eleven weeks, and the rest is history, going 6-1 the rest of the way and overtaking Lillian Newman and the Waves for the last playoff spot in the Continental Conference. Their prize is a trip to Tallahassee to meet the defending champions with renewed confidence that they can make a playoff run. Laanemaa has not yet faced the Renegades, but vowed "they will be ready" if they had to travel there; and they are. They've done a fantastic job in spreading the ball around to Luigi Jordan, Nicky Ricky and Flint Kurosawa, but strangely, their 8th-overall pick in 2024 Devereaux Gallagher has barely seen the field. Carrice Kenton has rushed for 1502 yards, one of only four players to achieve that this season, and has the Blues as one of the top rushing attacks in the league. However, two key injuries stick out; their leading receiver in Jordan, and their DPOY candidate Hat Chargogga will both likely miss the game; devastating losses for a team that's looking to defy the odds and be the rare 4-seed to make a FurBowl.
The Renegades might not have beaten the Crushers this past week, but they don't have a single player on the injured list, and return just about all of their core that won them the championship last season. They have as good a chance as any in recent memory to repeat, as Caryn Becker and Olen Reuyters continue to tear up defensive backfields, and the duo of Roland McSnow and Tyler Wirl picked up right where they left off last season in a continuously fierce rushing attack. They have no real glaring weaknesses outside of periodic inconsistency, which doesn't bode well for playoff hopefuls like Austin or Baltimore looking to cement their contender status. This game is particularly interesting because the Blues have significantly improved since Week 7, and the Renegades have suffered a few inexcusable "throw away the film and burn it" type losses in the latter half of the season, but this is a team with arguably the most experience and talent in the Continental Conference playoffs this year. They will be a tough out for anyone having to play them.
(3) Baltimore Ponies (11-7) @ (2) Colorado Crushers (11-7)
Season Series: Both teams defended their home turf this season: Colorado won 34-17 in Week 11, and Baltimore won 20-13 in Week 16.
Despite having Weeks 18 and 19 off to rest, Colorado suffered a mountain of injuries in their Week 20 matchup in Tallahassee. Their starting corner Michael Burrows and starting left guard Stephen Eggleston might be out, the latter of which would be a tough loss due to how instrumental the Crushers' offensive line has been this season for both pass blocking and run blocking. Erica Blanche de la Rosa is another back that has over 1500 yards rushing this season, and will need another big game against a stout Ponies defense that's coming off a shutout win against the Dragons. Colorado is one of the top teams that uses their weapons spread out evenly, as 3 players have over 1000 yards receiving, and two more have hit over 300. Aspen Redfield had his best season statistically, throwing for a career high 33 touchdowns and a 72% completion percentage; this is a team that compliments each other and helps each other to succeed. The real question becomes for the Crushers, with the amount of players on their injury report, how well will they respond to adversity?
The Ponies have had a wild season; eight consecutive road games followed by eight consecutive home games. If they had managed to best the Renegades once or Blues in Week 19, they'd be kings of the division. But alas, they must travel to Aspen; the first time the Ponies have left Baltimore since Week 11 when they were in Aspen for the final game of that aforementioned eight game road trip. It's been reported that Jillian St. Claire is dealing with migraines this week, but thankfully she is expected to take the field on Sunday; she is also having the best full season statistically of her career. Baltimore's defense is statistically the best in the Continental Conference this season, allowing just under 20 points per game, and they're among the top half of every major metric on that side of the ball. 2022 2nd-overall pick Kennedy Rodriguez has had a brilliant season for the offense, hitting almost 1400 yards while finding the endzone 11 times, and he needs to keep up that production if they want to best the Crushers in the rubber match. This might be the most "coin-flip" match out of the four; you have two teams that thrive when they play as a team rather than focusing on a few individual players, and that's led to 11-7 records for both sides looking to finally break through to their first FurBowl appearance in an age - nine years for Colorado, and eight years for Baltimore.
The road to Michigan has begun! Stay tuned UFFL Fans!
Well, the New Orleans Corsairs, are mortal afterall, Either Mardi Gras hangover hit too hard or the players already had their mind over to the playoffs, In the meantime the Las Vegas Bandits weren't about to let themselves be disrespected. In their final home game of the year, the Bandits wanted to finish on a high note as they managed to finish the year strong after a season full of ups and downs. The QB for the Bandits, Sylvester Stapler, whom this year might have been not one of his best, shown today he still to be considered in the top tier of QBs in the league with a great outing (19/28, 277 yards, 1 TD) other than that, the run game really took a day off (55 yards total rushing for BOTH teams) and both teams were rather undisciplined (18 combined penalties for 163 total yards lost). Regardless, Vegas finishes strong with a 10-8 record while New Orleans ends with 11-7 record and a division title, franchises firsts, but they better sober up come playoff time. Vegas wins this one 35-7.
In Easton, Montreal had a lot to gain while the Bald Eagles had nothing to lose. Having scored an upset last week, the Bald Eagles wanted to finish this year with optimism as The Royal needed to win in order to try to get home field advantage from winning their division. At first, it seemed like it was all Montreal. Vito Ligustica had one of his best games on the ground since week 3 ( 148 yards, 1 TD ) and The Royal was leading 17-0 at the start of the second quarter. But then everything seems to….stall for Montreal. Bald Eagles QB Michelle Housley had one of the best game of her career ( 274 yards passing, 2 TDs) and even thrown her longest TD, a 74 yards bomb to Wide Receiver Lyra Murphy, then in the Third, Veteran and one of the face of the franchise, Delph Adler would score again to complete the comeback, leading 21-20. Try as they might, Montreal could not generate anything in the second half, as Virginia Pratt would kick a FG in the last quarter to put it out of reach. A stunned Royal, now had to wait on the New York game to see if they clinched their division, while the Bald Eagles might end their season 6-12, but got lots of encouraging performances to build on for the summer. Easton wins this one 24-20.
In Miami, the stakes could not be as clearer for the Downriver Waves. If Lillian Newman ever wanted to have a shot to return to the playoffs, they had to win this game with gusto and hope for a Blues loss to sorta shake things up. For the Miami faithful, they had one more shot to perhaps play the spoilers at least and finish this season, already looking at getting the offseason work started already. You wonder where the rushing went from the NOC/LBV game? Well, here it was. 6 combined rushing TDs and 326 total rushing yards from both teams. All kidding aside, while it may not look like it, Miami played a great game. Wil Hudson continued to improve (278 yards, 1 TD) they had a third down conversion of 9/17, and Roy Viridi-Aqua played well as usual (98 yards receiving, 1 TD). They would have probably been winning this game…if only Lillian Newman hadn't gone MVP mode one. More. Time. 218 passing yards, 2 TDs. 171 rushing yards, 3 rushing TDs. Newman took the team on her back once more as she did all she could. Now the Waves had to wait and look over in California. Downriver wins this one 42-25.
Moving things over to Chicago. It’s safe to say it wasn’t really what the Outlaws were expecting. The season went to hell in a hand basket and ever since they got passed over by the Corsairs, nothing went right. Today, Chicago looked…gassed. Seems no one was eager to come to play, other than Max Stahl, who had 133 receiving yards, a career high. At least he tried. The game score was 7-6 into the fourth quarter, which made it a rather dull game that Nashville would happily take as they had their ticket punched for the playoffs. As Chicago had their first losing record since 2014, what is going to happen in the summer for them? Nashville wins this one 21-7.
In Tallahassee, The North Florida Renegades had their tickets punched to defend their title, along with the division title regardless of Baltimore results (They swept them in season) but they had an important test against the Colorado Crushers. In a possible Conference final match up, both teams gave them their all. North Florida QB Caryn Becker was only 7 passing yards off her career high (341 passing yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) but she completed a career high in completions. But what was really unusual for this game is how the Crushers really took over the game with a QB committee strategy, as all 3 suited Crushers QBs had completions in this game, only missing 5 passes total. Aspen Redfield would throw for 4 TDs, as Colorado would end up getting on top, putting North Florida on notice. Colorado wins this one 38-28.
In Baltimore, it was a playoff frenzy for Baltimore, as they were more ready than ever to get to the post season. How so, well it seems it will not only be California that would not score a single point in a game. Much to the Grand Rapids Dragons’s dismay. Having less than 200 yards in total offense in this game, at the very least it's now clear as day on what the Dragons need to work on in the offseason: Offense. Jillian St-Claire finish her season strong with a great day on the field (266 yards, 3 TDs) and are now ready to get playoffs going. Baltimore wins this one 34-0.
Now on to the very important games. In California, the Demons faced off against the Austin Blues, who were trying to solidify their playoff spot. Win and they are in. It all comes down to the young rookie QB Ica Laanemaa to bring this home for Austin. Can they do it? The Demons weren’t about to let them go on that easy, as the game was really close throughout. For the First half of the game, California seemed to have control on this game, but slowly but surely, once more, Ica proved that it wasn’t luck, as Austin would more of less take full control from the middle of the game, as Laanemaa once again shown up (21/24, 185 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) and running back Carrice Kenton helps on field position with 97 yards rushing. California would score late but the damage was done. Austin completes the mid season turnaround as they head to the Playoff while unfortunately, it is the end of the line for the Downriver Waves. Is this it for Newman? Austin wins this one 31-20.
Finally, against all odds, this would happen to be THE game of the week. New York, due to the loss of the Royal, could clinch their division with a win. Richmond, amidst everything, had the first positive season ever since they relocated to their new home and was looking to finish with perhaps an upset of their own. Right off the bat, Richmond was looking like they were ready to do so. In the second quarter, Richmond led the Defiant 28-14, with a 31 yards pick six from Alice Lacoste (first in her career). But then Richmond started perhaps to get a little too confident, out comes the penalties. 14 penalties for 118 yards lost, it didn't take much for the Defiant to slowly climb back up. And you know what that means….time for Clutch Emi. True to herself, she would bring back the Defiant in the game (327 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT) until they led in the fourth, thanks to a couple of Field goals. There still was some hope for Richmond as they were in the red zone at the end. But with a turnover on downs, it wasn’t meant to be. The Idol has done it again. Defiant comeback. Division clinched! New York wins this one 34-28.
Players of the Week
Offense: Lillian Newman (QB – DWN): 218 passing yards, 2 passing TDs and an interception, plus 171 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns
Defense: Olga Mikhailov (DE – NSH): 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 QB hurries and a forced fumble
Special Teams: Rubin Hildebrand (P – NOC): 8 punts for 352 total yards, with 5 inside the 20
And now...Here the preview of the 2024 UFFL playoffs divisional games!
(4) Nashville Tuts (12-6) @ (1) New York Defiant (13-5)
Season Series: New York won both games this season: 52-23 in New York in Week 10, and 27-10 in Nashville in Week 13.
The disappointment of dropping a close game to the division-rival Bald Eagles in Week 19 was short lived for New York, as they watched Easton do the same thing to the Royal in Week 20 to turn the tables for the third time in as many weeks. The thrilling United East division race ends in the Defiant bringing the title back to New York for the first time since 2019 (when they were the Titans), and avoiding having to travel to the loud and raucous crowd that New Orleans will have in the Big Easy. Emi Tachibana is expected to be ready for this divisional tilt despite suffering a small facial injury in last week's matchup against Richmond, and they're gonna need her to keep doing what she's been doing all season; the Defiant have the league's top offense in yards gained, averaging 394 yards per game, and is top 4 in points scored, rushing yards and passing yards. Ageless wonder Justice Matari put up their second straight season racking up over 1500 yards receiving and at least 18 touchdowns, and the emergence of second-year running back Timothy Dougherty has been a story scarcely covered by journalists and media, quietly running for over 1100 yards and 7 touchdowns in a quality supporting backfield to Tachibana. As the team with the league's best record, it's tricky to pinpoint an achilles heel, but the Defiant's run defense in particular hasn't been doing them any favours. Java Jenkins, Royce Jackson, and the Royal's duo of Ligustica and Zuro have ran all over the Defiant this past month. Despite the regular season success, they've been ousted in rather lopsided losses in the divisional round in both 2022 and 2023, so the pressure is starting to mount this time around to at least win a playoff game. Fail to do that, and there might be more questions than answers in New York this offseason.
The Tuts played their starters in Chicago last week, likely to rinse out the stench of that dismantling in New Orleans a week earlier, to earn a very respectable 12-6 record - best in franchise history. They're in the postseason dance for the second time in their history - and first since 2019. Roman Oliviera has had his best season in his young career, throwing for 26 touchdowns and just 7 picks, and threw for almost 3000 yards despite missing four games. Charmaine Baldrick led the way in receiving yards with over 1300, and Dexter Mullen was their red-zone threat with 14 touchdown grabs. Bubba Deezen and Dallas Larkin were one of the most effective and balanced running duos in the league this year, both of them rushing for over 900 yards each, with 13 touchdowns between them. This is an offense that's built to win games no matter the situation. As for the defense... there's a lot to be desired, despite having DPOY finalist Sandra Wheeler. A lot of Nashville's wins were shootouts, and as a result, despite being six games over .500, the Tuts have allowed more points than they've scored. They've also lost four of their last seven after starting the season 9-2 to gradually fall out of a division race they would only lose out to by one game. If the Tuts want to pull off the upset in New York, they've got to find a way to keep up with the Defiant's quick tempo, and force Tachibana to make quick decisions and throw errant passes. They allow just under 270 passing yards per game this season - by far the lowest in this playoff field - and Tachibana throws an average of over 250 a game. This will not be a low-scoring game, which is great for the fans, but might not be great for the coaches.
(3) Montreal Royal (13-5) @ (2) New Orleans Corsairs (11-7)
Season Series: Montreal won both games this season: 34-16 in New Orleans in Week 1, and 37-24 in Montreal in Week 6.
The Royal had chances to keep their streak of division titles going strong, both in Week 18 against New York, and last week in Easton. They lost both, and despite winning 13 games - tied for the best record in the league - they might not play another home game again this season. Despite that, the Royal's strength is the same as it has been in recent memory: defense, defense and more defense. Only allowing a touch more than 16 points a game and holding opponents to less than 7 points four times this season (including two shutouts), they know how to put the stranglehold on opposing offenses, and that's translated into a ton of playoff success for the Royal in the past half-decade. This time around, they have the two-headed monster in Vito Ligustica and Yash Zuro, who ran for a combined 2386 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. As a result, they have the conference's best rushing attack for an offense that averages almost 29 points per game, second-best in the league. Last year, they were shut down in a low-scoring thriller by a brilliant Bandits defense, a Bandits defense they could have been facing in a divisional round rematch...
...if not for the rookie heroics of Theodore Dupre and that Corsairs offense, who average over 30 points per game; the only team to beat Montreal in that category. Just edging out the Bandits and Outlaws, they're without question the story of the season; a rookie quarterback leading their franchise to the first playoff berth and division title in franchise history. It's a distant memory now, but the Corsairs were at 2-6 after eight weeks, and had a deal in place to trade Aleksy Wisnieski to the Tropics had they lost that game to the Bandits in Week 9. Down 13 points after three quarters, they pulled out a 4th-quarter comeback of the ages and never looked back, rattling off nine straight wins to quash the rumours of selling their biggest assets at the trade deadline, including putting the hammer down on the Outlaws, Tuts and Renegades. Though, the time for celebration is over, and as Blues' quarterback Ica Laanemaa said in their press conference a few days earlier, to be the best you gotta beat the best. They're 0-2 against the Royal AND Defiant this season, however, all four of those games were within that 2-6 stretch to start the year. This is a dangerous team with weapons aplenty, with Dupre leading the way, Leone Lopez rushing for over 1300 yards, and a receiving three-headed monster in Wisnieski, Stephen Harris, and Robert Ruiz. This is a game that will ultimately come down to experienced talent versus raw, full-of-potential talent as the Corsairs have never been here before - facing a team that's been here almost every year throughout their existence. Regardless of the outcome, this season has smashed all expectations for the Corsairs, and heads should be held high no matter what happens throughout the next four weeks.
(4) Austin Blues (10-8) @ (1) North Florida Renegades (11-7)
Season Series: North Florida won both games this season: 17-13 in Austin in Week 3, and 37-9 in North Florida in Week 7.
Ica Laanemaa was subbed in for Kai Koa after sitting at 4-7 through eleven weeks, and the rest is history, going 6-1 the rest of the way and overtaking Lillian Newman and the Waves for the last playoff spot in the Continental Conference. Their prize is a trip to Tallahassee to meet the defending champions with renewed confidence that they can make a playoff run. Laanemaa has not yet faced the Renegades, but vowed "they will be ready" if they had to travel there; and they are. They've done a fantastic job in spreading the ball around to Luigi Jordan, Nicky Ricky and Flint Kurosawa, but strangely, their 8th-overall pick in 2024 Devereaux Gallagher has barely seen the field. Carrice Kenton has rushed for 1502 yards, one of only four players to achieve that this season, and has the Blues as one of the top rushing attacks in the league. However, two key injuries stick out; their leading receiver in Jordan, and their DPOY candidate Hat Chargogga will both likely miss the game; devastating losses for a team that's looking to defy the odds and be the rare 4-seed to make a FurBowl.
The Renegades might not have beaten the Crushers this past week, but they don't have a single player on the injured list, and return just about all of their core that won them the championship last season. They have as good a chance as any in recent memory to repeat, as Caryn Becker and Olen Reuyters continue to tear up defensive backfields, and the duo of Roland McSnow and Tyler Wirl picked up right where they left off last season in a continuously fierce rushing attack. They have no real glaring weaknesses outside of periodic inconsistency, which doesn't bode well for playoff hopefuls like Austin or Baltimore looking to cement their contender status. This game is particularly interesting because the Blues have significantly improved since Week 7, and the Renegades have suffered a few inexcusable "throw away the film and burn it" type losses in the latter half of the season, but this is a team with arguably the most experience and talent in the Continental Conference playoffs this year. They will be a tough out for anyone having to play them.
(3) Baltimore Ponies (11-7) @ (2) Colorado Crushers (11-7)
Season Series: Both teams defended their home turf this season: Colorado won 34-17 in Week 11, and Baltimore won 20-13 in Week 16.
Despite having Weeks 18 and 19 off to rest, Colorado suffered a mountain of injuries in their Week 20 matchup in Tallahassee. Their starting corner Michael Burrows and starting left guard Stephen Eggleston might be out, the latter of which would be a tough loss due to how instrumental the Crushers' offensive line has been this season for both pass blocking and run blocking. Erica Blanche de la Rosa is another back that has over 1500 yards rushing this season, and will need another big game against a stout Ponies defense that's coming off a shutout win against the Dragons. Colorado is one of the top teams that uses their weapons spread out evenly, as 3 players have over 1000 yards receiving, and two more have hit over 300. Aspen Redfield had his best season statistically, throwing for a career high 33 touchdowns and a 72% completion percentage; this is a team that compliments each other and helps each other to succeed. The real question becomes for the Crushers, with the amount of players on their injury report, how well will they respond to adversity?
The Ponies have had a wild season; eight consecutive road games followed by eight consecutive home games. If they had managed to best the Renegades once or Blues in Week 19, they'd be kings of the division. But alas, they must travel to Aspen; the first time the Ponies have left Baltimore since Week 11 when they were in Aspen for the final game of that aforementioned eight game road trip. It's been reported that Jillian St. Claire is dealing with migraines this week, but thankfully she is expected to take the field on Sunday; she is also having the best full season statistically of her career. Baltimore's defense is statistically the best in the Continental Conference this season, allowing just under 20 points per game, and they're among the top half of every major metric on that side of the ball. 2022 2nd-overall pick Kennedy Rodriguez has had a brilliant season for the offense, hitting almost 1400 yards while finding the endzone 11 times, and he needs to keep up that production if they want to best the Crushers in the rubber match. This might be the most "coin-flip" match out of the four; you have two teams that thrive when they play as a team rather than focusing on a few individual players, and that's led to 11-7 records for both sides looking to finally break through to their first FurBowl appearance in an age - nine years for Colorado, and eight years for Baltimore.
The road to Michigan has begun! Stay tuned UFFL Fans!
